Matthew Axelson

Matthew Axelson (25 June 1976-28 June 2005) was a US Navy SEALs Sonar Technician Second Class and sniper during the Afghanistan War. He was killed during Operation Red Wings in 2005.

Biography
Matthew Axelson was born in Cupertino, California in 1976, and he earned a degree in political science at California State University in Chico, where he met his wife. Axelson joined the US Navy because he wanted to challenge himself, and he was deployed to Afghanistan in April 2005. On 28 June 2005, he took part in Operation Red Wings - an operation to eliminate Taliban commander Ahmad Shah - and he served as his team's sniper. After the locals betrayed the Americans to the Taliban, the team engaged in a firefight with overwhelming numbers of Taliban fighters, and Axelson died of bullet wounds to the chest and head and from an RPG blast.